Statistics · Updated October 2026
LLM Market Share in 2026: Who Leads AI Assistants
LLM market share depends on what you count: referrals to websites, visits to the assistants, or enterprise usage. Here are the figures, sources and our own citation data.
Short answer
What is ChatGPT's market share among AI assistants?
It depends on the measure. ChatGPT holds 80.48% of AI chatbot referrals worldwide (StatCounter, September 2026), but about 53% of generative AI website visits in May 2026 (Similarweb, July 2026), down from about 76% a year earlier.
Key figures
LLM market share at a glance
- ChatGPT share of AI chatbot referrals worldwide, September 2026
- 80.48%
- ChatGPT share of AI chatbot referrals worldwide, September 2026
- StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026
- ChatGPT's share of generative AI website visits in May 2026, down from ~76% a year earlier
- ~53%
- ChatGPT's share of generative AI website visits in May 2026, down from ~76% a year earlier
- Similarweb, July 2026
- Gemini's share of generative AI website visits in May 2026, up from under 9%
- 27–28%
- Gemini's share of generative AI website visits in May 2026, up from under 9%
- Similarweb, July 2026
- Anthropic share of enterprise LLM usage, ahead of OpenAI (25%) and Google (20%), mid-2025
- 32%
- Anthropic share of enterprise LLM usage, ahead of OpenAI (25%) and Google (20%), mid-2025
- Menlo Ventures, July 2025
- of US adults use AI chatbots in 2026, up from 33% in 2024
- 49%
- of US adults use AI chatbots in 2026, up from 33% in 2024
- Pew Research Center, June 2026
- websites cited per Perplexity answer, vs 4.2 for ChatGPT and 2.5 for Gemini
- 8.0
- websites cited per Perplexity answer, vs 4.2 for ChatGPT and 2.5 for Gemini
- LLMReach measurement, October 2026
- of Perplexity's cited websites rank in Google's top 10 (Gemini 13.4%, ChatGPT 10.7%)
- 14.4%
- of Perplexity's cited websites rank in Google's top 10 (Gemini 13.4%, ChatGPT 10.7%)
- LLMReach measurement, October 2026
- of 250 Gemini answers cited Google Maps, a source the other assistants never cited
- 52
- of 250 Gemini answers cited Google Maps, a source the other assistants never cited
- LLMReach measurement, October 2026
All figures
Every LLM market share figure
| Statistic | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT share of AI chatbot referrals | 80.48% | StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026 |
| Google Gemini share of AI chatbot referrals | 10.91% | StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026 |
| Perplexity share of AI chatbot referrals | 5.85% | StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026 |
| Microsoft Copilot share of AI chatbot referrals | 1.79% | StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026 |
| Claude share of AI chatbot referrals | 0.95% | StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026 |
| Deepseek share of AI chatbot referrals | 0.02% | StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026 |
| Claude share of generative AI website visits, May 2026 (up from about 2%) | ~9% | Similarweb, July 2026 |
| Average monthly visits to generative AI platforms, up 70% year over year | 9.5 billion | Similarweb, July 2026 |
| Unique visitors to generative AI platforms, up 57% | 655 million | Similarweb, July 2026 |
| ChatGPT share of AI referral traffic in 2026 | 74.78% | SE Ranking, 2026 |
| Claude share of enterprise code generation, vs 21% for OpenAI | 42% | Menlo Ventures, July 2025 |
| Enterprise AI workloads on closed-source models | 87% | Menlo Ventures, July 2025 |
| Growth in Claude worldwide app monthly active users | 1,318% | Similarweb, July 2026 |
| US adults using ChatGPT | 44% | Pew Research Center, June 2026 |
| US adults using Gemini | 24% | Pew Research Center, June 2026 |
| US adults using Copilot | 17% | Pew Research Center, June 2026 |
| US adults using Meta AI | 14% | Pew Research Center, June 2026 |
| US adults using Grok | 8% | Pew Research Center, June 2026 |
| US adults using Claude | 6% | Pew Research Center, June 2026 |
| US adults using Character.ai | 3% | Pew Research Center, June 2026 |
| Monthly active users of the Gemini app, up from 400 million | 900 million+ | Google, May 2026 |
| Google share of search engine traffic worldwide (Bing 5.29%) | 89.94% | StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026 |
| Gemini answers citing at least one website (ChatGPT and Perplexity: 100%) | 93% | LLMReach measurement, October 2026 |
What it means
What the numbers mean for brands
ChatGPT still leads referrals
StatCounter puts ChatGPT at 80.48% of AI chatbot referrals, so it remains the first assistant to optimize for, even as its visit share falls.
Gemini and Claude are rising
Similarweb shows Gemini growing from under 9% to 27–28% of visits. A brand cannot rely on one assistant alone.
Each engine cites differently
In LLMReach's data, Perplexity cites 8.0 sites per answer and Gemini 2.5. Citation targets differ by engine, so track each one separately.
Trend
Share of AI visits is shifting
View the data as a table
| June 2025 | May 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 76% | 53% |
| Gemini | 9% | 27.5% |
| Claude | 2% | 9% |
Source: Similarweb, July 2026
By assistant
Market share by measure.
Three independent measures. Perplexity is not in the Pew survey.
Share by assistant, %
- ChatGPT
- Gemini
- Perplexity
Sources: StatCounter Global Stats (September 2026), SE Ranking (2026), Pew Research Center (June 2026)View as table
| Brand | ChatGPT | Gemini | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| US adults using it (Pew) | 44% | 24% | Not measured |
| Referrals (StatCounter) | 80.5% | 10.9% | 5.8% |
| Referral traffic (SE Ranking) | 74.8% | 11.6% | 7.2% |
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<img src="https://www.llmreach.ai/charts/ai-search-statistics/llm-market-share.svg" alt="Market share by measure" width="800" loading="lazy" />
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<p>Source: <a href="https://www.llmreach.ai/ai-search-statistics/llm-market-share">LLM market share by LLMReach</a></p>Free to use with the credit link.
Methodology
How these figures were measured.
| Assistant | Model | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | gpt-5-6 | 250 |
| Gemini | 3.5 Flash-Lite | 250 |
| Perplexity | sonar | 250 |
10 example buyer questions, from the 250 asked to each assistant
- 01best digital marketing agency in Chicago for B2B companies
- 02best Toyota dealership in Houston
- 03what is the best CRM for a 10-person sales team?
- 04best natural deodorant that actually works
- 05best endpoint detection and response platform for a mid-size company
- 06who is the best family dentist in Houston that takes new patients?
- 07best running shoes for flat feet
- 08best online MBA program for working professionals
- 09which vendors should we evaluate for enterprise data security?
- 10best fee-only financial advisor for tech executives with stock options
- Third-party figures come from primary sources we read directly, such as StatCounter, Similarweb, Pew Research Center, Menlo Ventures and Google.
- Our own figures come from 750 answers to 250 buyer questions across 25 sectors, compared with Google's top 10 for the same questions.
- Every figure shows its source and date, so you can check how recent it is before you cite it.
- Different methods explain different numbers: referrals, site visits, user surveys and enterprise spend each measure a different slice of LLM market share.
Cite this page
Quote these figures in your work
<p>
Source: <a href="https://www.llmreach.ai/ai-search-statistics/llm-market-share">LLM Market Share in 2026: Who Leads AI Assistants</a>,
LLMReach, updated October 2026.
</p>Writers are welcome to cite these figures and link to this page.
FAQ
LLM market share: common questions
What is ChatGPT market share in 2026?
It depends on the measure. StatCounter reports ChatGPT at 80.48% of AI chatbot referrals worldwide in September 2026, while Similarweb puts its share of generative AI website visits at about 53% in May 2026.
Who leads AI chatbot market share?
ChatGPT leads on every consumer measure here: 80.48% of referrals per StatCounter, and 74.78% of AI referral traffic per SE Ranking in 2026. Gemini is second at 10.91% and 11.56% respectively.
How is LLM market share different from AI search market share?
LLM market share counts visits or users of assistants. AI search market share counts referrals sent to websites. Google still holds 89.94% of search engine traffic worldwide, per StatCounter in September 2026.
Who leads enterprise LLM usage?
Menlo Ventures reported in July 2025 that Anthropic led enterprise LLM usage with 32%, ahead of OpenAI at 25% and Google at 20%. Closed-source models powered 87% of enterprise workloads.
How fast is Gemini growing?
Google said in May 2026 that the Gemini app passed 900 million monthly active users, up from 400 million a year earlier. Similarweb also shows Gemini's visit share rising from under 9% to 27–28%.
What did LLMReach's own measurement find about citations?
LLMReach ran 750 answers to 250 buyer questions in October 2026. Perplexity cited 8.0 websites per answer, ChatGPT 4.2 and Gemini 2.5. Only 10.7% to 14.4% of cited sites ranked in Google's top 10.
Free AI Audit
See which assistants name your brand
You leave knowing where the gap is, what is causing it, and which changes would matter first, whether we work together or not.
What to expect
Audit
Before the call, we run your buyers' questions through ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini.
Map
On the call, we show you where competitors are cited and you are not, and what's causing it.
Decide
An honest read on whether the Citation Stack fits. If it doesn't, you'll hear it on the call.
Don't see a time that works? Email Karim directly: contact@llmreach.ai